The European electricity and gas markets have been going through a process of liberalisation since the early 1990s. This process has changed the sector from a regulated structure of, predominantly, publicly owned monopolists controlling the entire supply chain, into a market where private and...

This report develops a roadmap for reliability policy in network industries. Based on economic theory, we analyse the relationship between reliability and various types of government policy: privatisation, liberalisation, regulation, unbundling, and 'commitment policy'. We let government...

Starting with a 'greenfield' situation, we discuss reasons for market failure in road infrastructure provision. We show why it may not be optimal from a welfare perspective to leave road provision fully to the market and government intervention in this sector can improve welfare. Government...

Is the gradual introduction of facilities-based competition, by fine-tuning access regulation, working as intended? What can one learn from the Dutch experience? More than a decade has passed since the liberalization of telecommunications in the Netherlands. Nevertheless, the regulator is still...

As European energy markets move towards deregulation, energy prices shift from classic ‘cost plus' prices towards market prices. Read also the accompanying <a href="http://www.cpb.nl/en/pressrelease/3213211/competition-lowers-energy-expenditures-end-users">press release</a>. We develop a model for the retail and wholesale energy markets in Europe, based on Bertrand competition in a two part...

The key question dealt with in this report is whether and how governments should be involved in taking measures regarding security of energy supply. In order to answer this question, we developed a framework for cost-benefit analysis and applied this framework to a number of policy...

With the ongoing liberalization and integration of European energy markets and the increasing worries about security of supply, the need for thorough economic analysis of electricity markets is growing. Elmar is a model for the European electricity market, taking into account imperfect...

This paper analyses the welfare effects of vertical integration of networks and trade in energy markets. Vertical integration reduces the effect of double marginalisation, thus increasing welfare. On the other hand, vertical integration hinders equal competition, rendering the vertically...

This report analyses three instruments aimed at increasing the reliability of electricity production. Read also the accompanying <a href="http://www.cpb.nl/en/pressrelease/3213057/government-measures-raise-security-energy-supply-are-expensive">press release</a> and Special Publication '<a href="http://www.cpb.nl/en/publication/energy-policies-and-risks-energy-markets-cost-benefit-analysis">Energy policies and risks on energy markets; a cost-benefit analysis</a>'. In the system of capacity markets, the transmission...

Pleas for a level playing field, for instance in international trade, are often not well-founded. This is because it is not exactly clear what a 'level playing field' means. But even if it would be clear what the plea would imply, a level playing field is not always desirable from an economic...